


Your Face Will Surely Show It

by BeneathSilverStars



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Single Parents AU, Trans Characters, daycare AU, nonbinary characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-11-04 00:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17888531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeneathSilverStars/pseuds/BeneathSilverStars
Summary: Newt has a lot on his plate: his in-progress PhD in Chemical Engineering (his third, after Biology and Music Theory), his part-time job at Garden Of Learning Childcare Center (on top of his part-time job teaching as an aspect of his graduate work), and his five-year-old kid (Riley, Space-Pirate-Princess and eater of bugs). That doesn't leave a lot of time for dating! But maybe... Maybe, this time, it would be worth trying to make it work.AKA, The AU where Newt and Hermann are both single parents and meet at a daycare. Updates will be small and spontaneous. Expect way too many details about the minutia of childcare work.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, welcome to projection city! I hope you enjoy kids and gays, because that's what I'm all about.

The thing was, Newt didn’t usually work in the mornings, right? If it was an even day, he would drop Riley off first thing when the center opened, head straight to campus to teach Bio 210, then off to the research labs to work on his latest dissertation while running several experiments simultaneously, cramming in everything he needed to get done that day before going back to the daycare to work his one to six shift across the hall from his kid. If it was an odd day, he’d let Riley sleep in while he cleaned up the apartment a bit, and then they’d both run any necessary errands on the way to the daycare, after which it’s back to the labs until two o’clock Chem 146, and then either a spare moment to catch his breath, or a rush to pick Riley up in time for their Thursday swim lessons.

So, he didn’t usually volunteer for extra shifts in the morning! Completely understandable and reasonable, in his opinion. But when his boss called at six-thirty in the morning on a Tuesday, sounding exhausted and stressed to the point of near-unintelligibility, saying something about her daughter and fevers and the emergency room, of course Newt agreed to fill in for her.

He sent out an email canceling class. He woke Riley up and informed them they’d get to go to school in their pajamas if they ate breakfast quickly and promised to make kind choices, which they agreed to enthusiastically, since they were wearing an Elsa nightgown that they’d been wanting a chance to show to their friends for ages. He texted his lab assistants about the day’s experiments. And he bundled Riley into the car and made it to Garden of Learning Childcare Center at three past seven, even though it was a goddamn Tuesday.

Now, Newt didn’t usually work in the mornings, but he’d been around the center long enough to know the routine, considering he’d gotten a job there shortly after he found out he was pregnant with Riley. (He’d actually gotten jobs at several daycares, in order to best vet them, and had ended up sticking around at the Garden for its loving atmosphere, flexible approach to working with neurodivergent children, and employee discount.) So after dropping Riley off at the preschool two room with a big hug and a few silly faces, he set about preparing the toddler room for the day: flipping on lights, grabbing paper and glitter for an art project, and dumping a bucket of toy cars on the floor for the kids to play with as they arrived.

Little Peter was the first to get there. He’d only moved up from the infant room last month, so he was still a bit unsure about everything, and didn’t seem very happy at all with the change of routine that was Mister Newt being there in the morning instead of Miss Katherine. Newt picked him up softly and bounced him on his hip while reassuring his mom that he’d be having fun in no time, and sure enough, it only took a few tries to find a car he was happy with.

Next was Mickeighlah, who ran down the hall far ahead of her exasperated babysitter, and struggled with the doorknob of the half-door for a good thirty seconds before agreeing to let Newt help her open it. Once she made it past that obstacle, she marched straight over to Peter and grabbed his car right out of his hands, setting him off into high-pitched wails.

The rest of the morning blurred together after that, as more kids got dropped off by familiar and less-familiar parents and caretakers, and more coworkers clocked in and set about breaking up toddler fights and changing diapers and tidying up. At eight-thirty they called the kids to the table for snack, and Newt watched fondly as Alyssa knocked over the chairs but dutifully helped Miss Katrina pick them up again. He counted up his kids as they sat down, made sure the attendance chart was up to date, noted that Samuel was still on vacation and Calliope hadn’t arrived yet, and turned around only to be greeted by the sight of an extremely beautiful man he’d never seen before.

The thing was, Newt didn’t usually work in the mornings. He knew all the kids in his room, and most of the kids in Riley’s room, and all the parents who picked up their toddlers on Monday Wednesday Friday, and the parents of Riley’s friends, but he didn’t know teachers in the other classrooms who only worked mornings. He didn’t know the parents of any of the infants or preschool one kids. He didn’t know the toddler parents who never picked up their kids in the afternoon, only dropped them off in the morning.

He didn’t know the man in the doorway right now. Newt could tell he was a parent, though, since he had a diaper bag slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a subtly striped sweater vest, in soft shades of red that looked very good on him, and his hair was delightfully half-mussed, in that harried parent sort of way, and his cheekbones were sharp, like a Leyendecker painting. He smiled very gently as he opened the door, murmuring encouragements to the toddler Newt could now see hiding behind his legs. Calliope’s hair was done up in two neat little ponytails, and she seemed very happy where she was, thank you.

Newt had heard about Calliope’s dad: disjointed stories from the kid herself, rumors from the other teachers, comments from the young lady who wasn’t related to Calliope but picked her up from school every evening and seemed to cherish her very much. Newt had heard that he was a professor, that he dropped his daughter off at almost precisely eight forty-five every day, that he tended to get a bit overprotective of her and could be very intimidating about it. He heard he sang Callope to sleep every night, and used a cane, and taught math. He was very good at doing braids. He bought his daughter shirts with silly science puns. He was single. He was also, apparently, very very hot.

Newt didn’t usually work in the mornings, but as he strode towards to the door to help encourage Calliope to join her friends, he suddenly really wished he did.


	2. Chapter 2

“You ready, Riley?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm, you sure?” Newt asked, giving his kid an overly suspicious look.

“Yeees!” Riley insisted, pointing at the piles around them as they continued, “I have my sleeping bag, I have my puppy pajamas, I have Doctor Bear Bear, I have my coloring book to share, and, I have my new fambily picture, in case I feel sad!”

“I dunno kiddo, I think you’re missing something.”

“Alright alright alright Daddy, what is it?”

“A big hug goodbye!” And with that Newt scooped Riley up and spun them around, setting them off giggling and holding on tight in return.

Eventually Riley started squirming, so Newt set them down, watching fondly as they immediately ran off to show their coloring book to their friends. “Walking feet, Rye,” he reminded, but he wasn’t gonna press it. It was sleepover day, after all! According to the Pre-Two teachers, Riley had been high energy and chattery all day, and that hadn’t stopped when Newt had picked them up from school. They’d refused to sit down on the metro, instead turning circles around a pole and giggling whenever the train lurched and set them off balance, and they’d mostly ignored their dinner in favor of excited speculation on what movie their class would be watching.

“Bye Riley, use your listening ears, have fun!” Newt called across the classroom. Riley looked up for a second and waved their hand with a big smile, before turning back to passing out coloring pages. Good enough!

Newt turned to Mx Terris. “So what are you guys watching tonight? Riley was sure it was going to be Moana, no matter how many times I reminded them that one’s not the right rating.”

“Ugh, I wish,” Mx Terris rolled xir eyes. “The kids would actually sit down for Moana, y’know? They’ve all seen it anyway so it's kinda ridiculous that we can’t show it, but hey, rules are rules. I’ve got, like, a Paw Patrol movie? And The Land Before Time? Honestly, that one’s way more traumatizing than any of the PG disney princesses… But anyway, I haven’t decided yet, we’ll see if anyone brings in anything better.”

“Good luck,” Newt replied with faux seriousness. “Maybe you’ll find something so boring they all fall asleep early.”

“Ha, if only!” Mx Terris shook xir head with a chuckle. “So, you actually going to the thing, or just having a night in?” The center-wide sleepover was only phase one of the night’s fundraising efforts; phase two was a dinner slash art auction slash wine tasting at a semi-classy local venue.

“I’m going this time! Figured it’d be nice to actually get to know some of the parents as a fellow parent rather than just a teacher, yeah? Even though it kinda defeats the point of a fundraiser if the employees are the ones donating…”

“Please, as if you aren’t donating sh- things all the time anyway, I know where the new playdough came from.”

“Hey, it was on sale! I had a coupon!”

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Just save the receipt next time, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Newt sighed. It was just hard not to get things for his kids! But Terris was right, with all xir fresh-out-of-high-school wisdom: Newt really did need to save his money for his actual kid. “Anyway, I’ll be back by eight to pick Riley up, okay? And if you need anything or Rye’s just really sad or, whatever, give me a call, okay? Last sleepover went fine, but I was across the hall for that one. I dunno how they’ll be, without me all night, so like, seriously, you can call, okay?”

“Newt, it’s fine, they’ll be fine. And if anything does happen, I’ve got your number, but I really think Riley will be more trouble for me than this will be for them.”

Newt had to smile at that; Riley could definitely be a handful when it came to anything unusual or exciting! But despite – or because of – Mx Terris’s gentle complaints, he knew xe loved Riley a lot. They were in safe hands. “Alright alright alright, I trust you, I’m going. Good luck!”

“Have a nice night!”

Newt waved over his shoulder as he left the classroom, then paused one last time to check on Riley through the window. They were sitting at the coloring table facing away, but as Newt watched, they turned to reply to a friend, and he caught a glimpse of their eyes sparkling with laughter.

Yeah, they’d be fine.

Newt had a hot dad to meet.


	3. Chapter 3

Newt arrived later than a good chunk of the parents, since he’d taken the metro instead of driving, but the event hadn’t quite started yet; some people were sitting down, but more were still mingling. He didn’t see Hermann yet – yes, Newt had looked up his name on the contact list, so what – but he’d heard his coworkers mention that Dr. Gottlieb was planning to be here. Yes, he’d been keeping an ear out for more gossip about him, so what. He wasn’t being weird about it, he was just curious! The man had looked younger than Newt had expected when he’d heard about him in the past, perhaps even around Newt’s age? It was normal to want to get to know someone who seemed to be in such a similar place in life! Both of them worked at the university, both of them were single fathers… Maybe their kids could become friends…? No, not being weird about it, definitely gonna have at least one conversation with him before daydreaming about step-families.

By the time Newt settled himself down and said hello to a few parents he recognized, the leader of the board was standing up to give an opening speech – and Hermann was just entering the room. He was wearing a poorly tailored navy suit with a simple heather-purple tie. Not the most striking combination, but the way his skin looked so soft and pink against the blue, the way his long eyelashes cast a shadow across his cheeks in the stark overhead lighting? Yeah, Newt still had it bad.

Hermann made his way quickly to an empty seat, and Newt scurried over lest someone else take the spot next to him.

“Hey,” he started, realizing he was a bit out of breath but too late now, “mind if I sit here?”

“By all means.”

Newt sat down and bounced his knees nervously. What to say..?

“I’ve, uh, seen you around,” Newt started, “You’re-”

“Welcome to our fifth annual Garden of Learning wine tasting!” boomed a voice over the microphone. “I’m Thomas Anderson, better known as the twins’ dad, and I’ll be your host tonight!”

Hermann gave Newt a slightly sympathetic, slightly amused look, before turning his full attention to the speaker’s description of the evening’s plans. Shit. Stellar first impression there, dude. Newt fidgeted with the elegantly tacky tablecloth, simultaneously hoping he could finish his sentence soon and hoping he would sink into the ground before he got the chance to beef it again.

Luckily – or unfortunately – the intro soon wrapped up, and they were left waiting to be dismissed by table to grab some food, buffet-style.

“You were saying?” Hermann asked.

Oh thank god, he hadn’t totally put him off already. “Yeah, um, you’re Calliope’s dad?”

“Yes. Are you also a parent..?”

Wow, uh, no need to sound so skeptical of the idea. But, that’s fine, he can work with this, “Yeah! My Riley is a preschooler, so you wouldn’t know them, but I also work in the toddler room myself.”

“I see.”

Oh my god, I see, that gives him nothing, where to go next…

“Y’all can get your food now!” Thomas announced to their table, even more obnoxiously cheerful in person.

Cool. Cool. Fresh start number three, after food.

“You know,” Newt began (again) over a plate of shrimp alfredo, “don't tell the others, but Calliope is one of my favorites.”

“Oh, is she?” Hermann smiled a bit, as any parent can’t help but to do when their child is mentioned.

“She’s just so sweet! Like, the other day Peter J dumped out his milk and immediately slipped in it, classic toddler move, and Calliope rushed right up to help him? Patted his shoulder and picked up his cup and asked ‘you awight?’ over and over till he stopped crying. And then she put away his food for him! Stacked his dishes right on top of her own, so precariously that I was sure she would be the next to spill and fall so I tried to stop her, but she insisted on doing it herself and she sure did it! Walked it all to the lunch cart SO carefully.”

Hermann’s smile had grown throughout the story to something pleased and proud that set his eyes sparkling, and Newt congratulated himself on the successful third attempt. Conversation starter, achieved.

“Oh yes,” Hermann was replying, “I’m not surprised she wouldn’t let you help, Calliope is such an independent child. These last few weeks she’s been insisting on trying to do her own car seat buckles, even though she makes a mess of them every time.”

“Ah, the dreaded car seat… good luck Callie, even adults have trouble with those!”

Hermann chuckled, and the conversation continued, so much easier than Newt had feared. Art was auctioned, wine was tasted, and by the time the evening drew to a close, Newt felt… confident. It had really gone okay. They’d talked all night, and Hermann didn’t seem like the kind of person to do so out of politeness. They’d bragged about their kids and argued about their work and even discussed the latest Netflix original, and it all just felt… natural.

When it was time to part ways at the end of the night, Newt asked Hermann if he’d be interested in going with him to a talk the biology department was hosting the next week on extraterrestrial life, and Hermann said yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated!!


End file.
